1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a plasma display apparatus and, more particularly, to a plasma display apparatus in which a plasma display panel (PDP) is supported by a thermally conductive member, a frame, and a boss plate.
2. Related Art
As is known well, a plasma display apparatus comprises a plasma display panel for generating plasma through gas discharge and for displaying images using the plasma, a chassis base supporting the plasma display panel, and driving circuit boards which are provided at the side of the chassis base opposite to the plasma display panel, and which are connected to display electrodes and address electrodes drawn out from the plasma display panel through flexible printed circuits and connectors.
Since the plasma display panel is composed of two sheets of glass substrates, the plasma display panel has a weak mechanical rigidity. As a result, a metallic chassis base having a mechanical rigidity greater than that of the glass is used to keep the plasma display panel stable with respect to mechanical rigidity.
The chassis base performs the function of supporting the driving circuit boards, the function of sinking heat from the plasma display panel, and the function of intercepting electromagnetic interference (hereinafter, referred to as EMI), as well as the function of maintaining the rigidity of the plasma display panel described above.
The plasma display panel is fitted to the front surface of the chassis base, and the driving circuit boards are fitted to the rear surface of the chassis base, so as to allow the chassis base to have the above-mentioned functions.
Since the plasma display panel is made of glass, it is difficult to form screw holes in the plasma display panel for the purpose of screw coupling to the chassis base, so that a double-sided tape is used to fit the plasma display panel to the chassis base. Bosses are formed on the rear surface of the chassis base, and the driving circuit boards are fitted to the bosses with screws.
A technique for fitting the plasma display panel onto the front surface of the chassis base is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,971,566 to Tani et al., entitled PLASMA DISPLAY DEVICE AND ITS MANUFACTURING METHOD, issued on Oct. 26, 1999, in which a thermally conductive member is interposed between the plasma display panel and the chassis base, heat emitted from the plasma display panel is transferred to the chassis base, and the chassis base discharges the heat.
In addition to the heat dissipating function, the chassis base performs a holding function for supporting the plasma display panel and the driving circuit boards. As a result, the chassis base should have a mechanical rigidity which is strongly resistant to sag or twist so as to satisfactorily perform the holding function while compensating for the rigidity of the plasma display panel.
The chassis base can effectively perform heat dissipation of the plasma display panel and compensation for the rigidity of the plasma display panel because the chassis base is made of metal having excellent thermal conductivity, but it has a problem in that the total weight of the plasma display apparatus is increased
Since the chassis base supports the plasma display panel on the front surface thereof and the driving circuit boards on the rear surfaces thereof, the chassis base also has a problem in that the entire shape should be changed when positions of the bosses to be fitted with the driving circuit boards are changed or the size of the plasma display panel is changed.